A mechanism inside a conventional optical disk drive which drives only a naked optical disk is for flexibly supporting, by means of a damper, only a traverse base which holds a spindle motor for rotationally driving a disk and an optical head for recording in and reproducing from a disk.
Meanwhile, in an optical disk drive which drives an optical disk stored in a cartridge, a traverse base and a loading mechanism for cartridge are formed as one integrated structure and a damper flexibly supports this structure as a whole.
A structure and operations of an optical disk drive which records in and reproduces from an optical disk stored in a cartridge will now be described.
While referring to a conventional optical disk record/reproduce drive shown in FIGS. 62 through 64, placing of a cartridge on a tray, a cartridge holding mechanism, loading of a tray and ejection of a tray will now be described.
In FIGS. 62 and 63, denoted at 1 is a cartridge in which an optical disk 10 is held, denoted at 144 is an eject switch, denoted at 201 is a main unit of the optical disk record/reproduce drive comprising a mechanical chassis 201a and a base frame 201b, denoted at 204 is a tray for seating a cartridge holding an optical disk (not shown) and a naked optical disk 10.
(Structure of Tray)
There are two concave portions, one large and the other small, formed in a concentric arrangement at the center of a cartridge seating surface 233 of the tray 204. The concave portion having a large diameter is a large diameter disk seater 231 while the concave portion having a small diameter is a small diameter disk seater 232, and either one is used in accordance with the outer diameter of a disk which is to be mounted to the optical disk record/reproduce drive 201.
The tray 204 comprises a front wall surface 234, a left wall surface 235 and a right wall surface 236 which are disposed vertically to the cartridge seating surface 233. A cartridge pre-loading member 237 is disposed via a compression coil spring 237a to the innermost side of the tray 204 so as to be freely movable in a forward/backward direction, creating a structure that the cartridge pre-loading member 237 is held by a holding part 250 as it is pre-loaded toward the front of the tray 204 by the spring 237a. 
(Structure of Rack Gear)
A rack gear 288, which engages with a last-stage drive gear 219 of a loading gear system 281 which is driven by a loading motor 280 disposed to the mechanical chassis 201a, is disposed to the back surface of the tray 204, and as the rotating direction of the loading motor 280 is switched, the tray 204 is loaded and ejected.
A structure of the tray 204 realizes loading and ejection, as the rotating direction of the loading motor 280 which is disposed to the front of the mechanical chassis 201a is switched.
(Structure of Traverse Base)
Held by the mechanical chassis 201a are a spindle motor 282 which rotates a disk 10 while holding the disk 10, an optical pickup 283 which reads information out from the disk 10 and writes information in the disk 10, a traverse motor 284 which moves the optical pickup 283 in the radius direction of the disk 10, and a traverse base 266 which holds a reed screw 297.
(Structure for Holding Traverse Base)
The traverse base 266 holds the spindle motor 282 which rotates a disk while holding the disk, the optical pickup 283 which reads information out from the disk and writes information in the disk, the traverse motor 284 which moves the optical pickup 283 in the radius direction of the disk, and the reed screw 297.
The rear end of the traverse base 266 is held to the mechanical chassis 201a by means of a torsion spring 266a for free rotations, while the front end of the traverse base 266 is pre-loaded toward below with a low load.
There are two slit holes 291 are formed one on the right-hand side and the other on the left-hand side to the front end 266b of the traverse base 266, and receive a cam lever 285 which is inserted around a rotation shaft 292 which is disposed to a bottom surface of the mechanical chassis 201a. The traverse base 266 is driven upward and downward as the cam lever 285 rotates. The cam lever 285 engages with the tray 204 which is located in the vicinity of a loading position, and rotates in accordance with actions made by the tray 204.
(Structure of Alignment Pins)
Also disposed to the traverse base 266 in addition to the spindle motor 282, the optical pickup 283 and the traverse motor 284 are two alignment pins 214 which engage with positioning holes 3 of the cartridge 1 at the front end 266b of the traverse base 266, and the alignment pins 214 maintains a clearance between the disk 10 which is held and the cartridge in the spindle motor 282 and positions the cartridge 1 at such a position which does not touch the disk 10.
(Structure of Cartridge State Detecting Switch)
Disk state detecting switches 215 are disposed in the vicinity of the alignment pins 214. The disk state detecting switches 215 are mounted to a printed board, so as to judge an engaging state with a detection hole (not shown) of the cartridge 1 and thereby detect whether it is possible to write in the disk 10 which is stored in the cartridge 1, the back and the front surfaces of the disk 10 and a recording capacity of the disk 10. The plurality of disk state detecting switches 215 and the traverse base 266 are formed as integrated elements.
(Structure of Upper Base)
An upper base 228 is disposed as a top lid to the mechanical chassis 201a. Disposed to the upper base 228 are a clamper 210 which fixes the disk 10 to the spindle motor 282, a clamp arm 212 which holds the clamper 210 to the spindle motor 282 in such a manner that the clamper 210 can be freely attached and detached in a vertical direction and cartridge pressing springs 229 which restrict vibrations of the cartridge 1 at the time of loading, and there may be cartridge pressing rollers disposed to four cartridge pressing parts 230 which are disposed around the cartridge pressing springs 229. The urging force of the cartridge pressing springs 229 toward below, via the cartridge pressing parts 230, urges right-hand side and left-hand side ribs on the both sides of the cartridge 1 and accordingly fixes the cartridge 1 to the tray 204.
The urging force of the cartridge pressing springs 229 has a function of urging the cartridge 1 against the tray 204 and the tray 204 against the mechanical chassis 209 immediately after the start of loading until the loading has finished, a function of eliminating rattling which occurs between the cartridge 1, the tray 204 and the mechanical chassis 201a, and a function of reducing vibrations and noises which occur at the time of loading and as the disk 10 rotates.
(Structure of Shutter Opener)
Also disposed to the upper base 228 is a shutter opener (not shown) which opens and closes a shutter 2 of the cartridge 1, and loading is performed while opening the shutter opener toward the right-hand side in accordance with the loading of the cartridge 1 with the shutter opener hooked to a projection which is at a front edge of the shutter 2.
As the shutter 2 becomes released, the disk 10 stored in the cartridge 1 is ready to be rotated by the spindle motor 282 and recorded or reproduced by the optical pickup 283.
(Structure of Clamper)
A structure used for mounting the disk 10 to the spindle motor 282 is a structure in which the clamper 210 fixes the disk 10 to a turn table (not shown) on the spindle motor 282.
The clamper 210 comprises members which can be split into two, one above and the other below, and houses a magnet (not shown) inside. In addition, for the purpose of centering of the disk 10 with respect to the turn table, a magnetic element (not shown) is buried in an apex portion of a center cone which is formed at the center. Owing to magnetic suction force of the magnet housed inside the clamper 210 and the magnetic element, the clamper 210 fixes the disk 10 to the turn table.
(Structure of Traverse Driving)
Two metallic shafts named “main shaft” and “sub shaft” disposed to the traverse base 266 holds the optical pickup 283 in such a manner that the optical pickup 283 can freely move in the radius direction of the disk 10.
In the vicinity of the main shaft, there is the reed screw 297 which is directly linked to the traverse motor 284. The optical pickup 283 comprises a nut piece which engages with the reed screw 297, and as the traverse motor 284 rotates, drive force which is in the radius direction of the disk 10 develops in the optical pickup 283 through the nut piece which is in engagement with the reed screw 297 and the optical pickup 283 accordingly moves to a desired radius position on the disk 10 at a high speed.
(Structure of Optical Pickup)
The optical pickup 283 contains highly dense integration of a semiconductor laser, a lens, a light receiving element (not shown), etc. In the opening of the optical pickup 283 in the top surface, an objective lens is supported by a wire spring (not shown) in such a manner that the objective lens can freely move forward, backward, toward above and toward below.
For recording/reproduction of data recorded on the back surface of the disk 10, laser light is focused at the back surface of the disk 10 and a very small spot is accordingly created.
In order to keep the laser light in focus against vibrations in the radius direction of the disk 10 and swaying of the disk 10 along the direction of the rotation shaft, an electro-magnetic actuator (not shown) which develops drive force in the direction of the rotation shaft is attached to the objective lens.
(Support by Rubber Dampers)
The tray 204, the mechanical chassis 201a, the traverse base 266, the upper base 228, and mechanical portions of the main unit 201 of the optical disk record/reproduce drive which are held by or fixed to these elements constitute one rigid body, as loading of the tray 204 completes.
The mechanical portions of the main unit 201 of the optical disk record/reproduce drive described above are supported by rubber dampers 290 on the four corners against the base frame 201b. Flexible supporting by the rubber dampers 290 ensures an effect that an influence over recording and reproduction of the disk 10 is reduced when the base frame 201b is vibrated or impacted from outside.
Operations of the optical disk record/reproduce drive having such a structure described above will now be described in relation to an example of reproducing from the disk 10 stored in the cartridge 1.
(Placing of Cartridge)
For placing of the cartridge 1 on the tray 204 which is surrounded by the front wall surface 234, the left wall surface 235 and the right wall surface 236, the cartridge 1 is slid obliquely toward below from the forward upper side to the tray 204 while pushing the cartridge pre-loading member 237 to the innermost side of the tray 204 at the rear edge of the cartridge 1, and the cartridge 1 is placed on the cartridge seating surface 233 in such a manner that the front edge of the cartridge 1 contacts an inner wall of the front wall surface 234, whereby placing of the cartridge 1 on the tray 204 is completed.
At this stage, the cartridge preloading member 237 presses the front edge of the cartridge 1 against the inside of the front wall surface 234, and the cartridge 1 is positioned with respect to the tray 204 without any rattling in the forward/backward direction or the right/left direction.
(Loading)
The tray 204 now seating the cartridge 1 is automatically loaded into inside the main unit 201 of the optical disk record/reproduce drive because of the drive force of the loading motor 280, while the shutter of the cartridge 1 is opened by the opener. Following this, the alignment pins 214, which are integrated with the traverse base 266 to which the spindle motor 282, the optical pickup and the like are fixed, are inserted in the positioning holes 3 of the cartridge 1, and the cartridge 1 is accordingly optimally positioned relative to the tray 204 and the spindle motor. At about the same time, the disk state detecting switch 215 detect the state of the cartridge 1. In addition, the clamper 210 fixedly holds the disk on the turn table of the spindle motor 282 of the main unit 201, and as the spindle motor 282 rotates, the disk rotates in such a state which permits recording or reproduction.
The tray 204 and the mechanical chassis 201a are molded from a resin, and the slide surface for loading of the mechanical chassis 201a is formed even and smooth. The bottom slide surface of the tray 204 has a convex cross section shaped in the form of a rail and a few guide members are disposed in the vicinity of the slide surface of the mechanical chassis 209, which structure preventing winding of the tray 204 during loading.
At the time of loading of the tray 204, the cartridge pressing springs 229 disposed on the right-hand side and the left-hand side to the upper base 228 and the four cartridge pressing parts 230 in total disposed at the front and the rear ends of the cartridge pressing springs 229 urge the ribs, which are at the right-hand side and the left-hand side ends of the cartridge 1, toward below. Through the cartridge 1 urged toward below by the cartridge pressing parts 230, the tray 204 is urged by the mechanical chassis 209, which allows loading without creating vibrations or noises attributed to rattling in the vertical direction.
Until loading of the tray 204 has completed, the spindle motor 282, the traverse motor 284 and the optical pickup 283 held on the traverse base 266 retract to below the loading path of the tray 204 for the purpose of avoiding interference with the tray 204, the cartridge 1 and the disk 10, and then move close to the disk at the time the completion of the loading.
(Descending of Clamp)
Immediately before loading of the tray 204 completes, a clamp arm driving projection 241 disposed on the tray 204 pushes up one side of the clamp arm 212 disposed with a hinge to the upper base 228 for free rotation while lowering the other side which holds the clamper 210. As a result, the clamper 210 is lowered to such a position which permits clamping of the disk 10.
(Ascending of Traverse Base)
After lowering of the clamper 210, as loading of the cartridge 1 placed on the tray 204 completes, the engagement of the tray 204 and the rack gear 288 gets released, the drive force developed by the drive gear 219 gets separated, and the rack gear 288 alone gets driven toward the rear side to the tray 204. The drive force toward the rear side to the rack gear 117 is transmitted to the cam lever 285 as rotation force upon the cam lever 285, so that the traverse base 266 fit to the cam lever 285 with the slit holes 291 ascends along the slanted surface of the cam lever 285.
(Insertion of Alignment Pin)
As the traverse base 266 ascends, the two alignment pins 214 integrated with the traverse base 266 get inserted into the two positioning holes 3 which are formed in the front of the cartridge 1.
During loading, rattling of the tray 204 with respect to the mechanical chassis 201a, rattling of the cartridge with respect to the tray 204 and the like create a misregistration of the cartridge 1 relative to the spindle motor 282. When the disk 10 rotates with the cartridge 1 misregistered relative to the spindle motor 282, the outer circumference of the disk 10 contacts the inner wall of the cartridge 1 and a noise is accordingly created. In the event that the misregistration is large, it is possible that the contact will serve as a resistance, the clamping of the disk 10 will be dissolved and the disk 10 will be damaged inside the cartridge 1.
As the alignment pins 214 are inserted into the positioning holes 3 of the cartridge 1, the cartridge is finally positioned relative to the tray 204 and the spindle motor, the misregistration of the cartridge 1 relative to the spindle motor 205 improves, and a sufficient clearance is ensured between the cartridge 1 and the disk 10.
(Insertion of Detecting Switch)
At around the same time with insertion of the alignment pins 214 into the positioning holes 3, the state detecting switches 215 as well get inserted to state detecting holes (not shown) of the cartridge 1.
Since there is a large clearance ensured between the state detecting holes and the state detecting switches 215 unlike for the alignment pins 214, even when there is a misregistration of the cartridge 1, the inserting action is sufficiently guaranteed for detection of the state of the cartridge 1.
(Clamping of Disk)
In parallel to insertion of the alignment pins 214 and the state detecting switches 215 to the cartridge 1, during the ascending of the traverse base 266, the center cone is inserted into a center hole of the disk 10 stored in the cartridge 1 and the disk 10 accordingly floats up inside the cartridge 1.
As the disk 10 floats up, the clamper 210 waiting at a clamping position engages with the center cone 222 and the clamping of the disk 10 completes.
(Rotation of Disk)
As the clamping of the disk 10 completes, the spindle motor 282 rotates and the spot created by the laser light emitted from the optical pickup 283 irradiates the back surface of the disk 10.
After this, in accordance with an instruction from a host PC, data already recorded in the disk 10 are reproduced.
(Release of Disk)
After a predetermined recording/reproduction operation for the disk 1 has finished, in accordance with an instruction from the PC or an input signal from the eject switch 144 of the main unit 201 of the optical disk record/reproduce drive, an ejection operation for the cartridge 1 and the disk 10 stored in the cartridge 1 is started.
Being approximately opposite to the loading operation, an ejection operation for the tray 204, will not be described in redundancy.
The conventional optical disk record/reproduce drive described above has a structure that the mechanical chassis 201a holds the traverse base 266, to which the spindle motor 282 which rotates the disk, the optical pickup 283 and the like are held, the tray 204, on which the cartridge 1 is placed and held, the loading motor 280 which loads the tray 204, and the like, and the base frame 201b supports the mechanical chassis 201a through the damper.
However, the conventional optical disk record/reproduce drive has a problem that the drive is complex and large and there is a large load upon the clamper which blocks external vibrations.
Further, the drive load is large since it is necessary to release the shutter of the cartridge, vertically drive the traverse base and position the cartridge all at the same time to thereby realize the structure which holds the cartridge and the optical disk as one integrated unit, and a special drive structure is necessary for the loading mechanism as the cartridge and the optical disk need be held as one integrated unit, which not only hinder an endeavor for size reduction of the drive but also leads to a following further problem which prohibits size reduction.
That is, it is necessary to suppress a misregistration of the cartridge and the housed disk relative to each other, since the clearance between the cartridge and the disk which is housed inside the cartridge is small and the flexible holding is by means of self-excited vibrations, the damper, etc.
FIG. 67 is a timing chart of the sequence of cartridge loading in the main unit 201 of the conventional optical disk record/reproduce drive.
Denoted at 250 is a cartridge placing job of placing the cartridge 1 on the tray 204.
A job occurring at 251 is a cartridge forward-urging job of urging the cartridge against the front wall surface 234 of the tray 204 with the cartridge pre-loading member 237 which is disposed to the rear side of the tray 204 after placing of the cartridge 1 on the tray 204.
As subsequent jobs, denoted at 252 is a tray pushing job of pushing the tray 204 into inside the optical disk record/reproduce drive 201 and denoted at 253 is a load eject switch job of pressing a load eject switch 246, both of which serving as a trigger to start loading of the tray 204.
After either one between the tray pushing job 252 and the load eject switch job 253 is selected, a loading job 254 of loading the tray 204 is started.
Approximately parallel to the loading job 254, a shutter opening job 255, which is of opening the shutter 2 of the cartridge 1, and a cartridge downward-urging job 256, which is of urging the cartridge 1 toward below the tray 204, are carried out.
At 257, a clamp preparing job completes during which the clamp arm and the clamper engaged with projections of the tray 204 are positioned with respect to the cartridge 1 immediately before and by the end of the loading job 254.
The shutter opening job 255 for the cartridge 1 has finished at the end of the loading job 254, and preparation to clamp the disk 10 stored in the cartridge 1 to the spindle motor accordingly completes.
Denoted at 258 is a cartridge positioning job of inserting the alignment pins 214 into the positioning holes 3 which are formed in the cartridge 1 and finishing the positioning of the cartridge 1 relative to the tray 204.
As the traverse base 208 moves upward, the two alignment pins 214 integrated with the traverse base 208 get inserted into the two positioning holes 3 which are formed in the front of the cartridge 1.
During loading, rattling of the tray 204 with respect to the mechanical chassis 209, rattling of the cartridge with respect to the tray 204 and the like create a misregistration of the cartridge 1 relative to the spindle motor 205. When the disk 10 rotates with the cartridge 1 misregistered relative to the spindle motor 205, the outer circumference of the disk 10 contacts the inner wall of the cartridge 1 and a noise is accordingly created. In the event that the misregistration is large, it is possible that the contact will serve as a resistance, the clamping of the disk 10 will be dissolved and the disk 10 will be damaged inside the cartridge 1.
As the alignment pins 214 are inserted into the positioning holes 3 of the cartridge 1, the misregistration of the cartridge 1 relative to the spindle motor 205 improves and a sufficient clearance is created between the cartridge 1 and the disk 10.
Denoted at 259 is a state detecting job, which is performed parallel to the cartridge positioning job 258, of inserting the state detecting switches 215 to the state detecting holes 4 of the cartridge 1 and thereby detecting the state of the disk inside the cartridge 1.
At about the same time of the insertion of the alignment pins 214 into the positioning holes 3 of the cartridge, the state detecting switches 215 as well are inserted into the state detecting holes 4 of the cartridge 1.
Unlike the alignment pins 214, since there is a large clearance between the state detecting holes 4 and the state detecting switches 215, even when there is a misregistration of the cartridge 1, the insertion action is sufficiently guaranteed for detection of the state of the cartridge 1.
Further, denoted at 260 is a disk clamping job during which the spindle motor 205 clamps with the clamper 210 the disk inserted to the center hole 5 of the disk 10.
In parallel to the insertion of the alignment pins 214 and the state detecting switches 215 into the cartridge 1, during the ascending of the traverse base 208, the center cone 122 is inserted into the center hole 53 of the disk 10 stored in the cartridge 1 and the disk 10 accordingly floats up inside the cartridge 1.
As the disk 11 floats up, the clamper 210 waiting at the clamping position engages with the center cone 222 and the clamping of the disk 10 completes.
Denoted at 261 is a record/reproduce job during which the spindle motor 205 rotates the disk and recording in the disk or reading of a record is realized because of the function of the optical pickup 207.
As the clamping of the disk 10 completes, the spindle motor 205 rotates and the spot created by the laser light emitted from the optical pickup 207 irradiates the back surface of the disk 10.
After this, in accordance with an instruction from the host PC, data already recorded in the disk 10 are reproduced.
After a predetermined recording reproduction operation for the disk 1 has finished, in accordance with another instruction from the PC or an input signal from the eject switch 144 of the main unit 201 of the optical disk record/reproduce drive, the ejection operation for the cartridge 1 and the disk 10 stored in the cartridge 1 is started.
Being approximately opposite to the loading operation, an ejection operation of the tray 204 of the conventional optical disk record/reproduce drive, will not be described in redundancy.
The conventional optical disk record/reproduce drive described above has the following problems.
(1) During loading into the optical disk record/reproduce drive with the cartridge placed on the tray, because of the cartridge pressing springs, the load urging the cartridge is added to the loading load acting only upon the tray, and thus, a load upon the loading motor and the loading gear system is large.
(2) Although the cartridge pressing springs urges the cartridge against the tray through the cartridge pressing members (rollers) during loading, if a foreign matter gets nipped between the cartridge pressing members and the cartridge, the surface of the cartridge may get damaged.
(3) Since friction force acting on the tray is superimposed upon the weight of the cartridge because of the urging force in the forward/backward direction exerted by the cartridge pre-loading member and the urging force exerted by the cartridge pressing springs during positioning of the cartridge, the insertion force of inserting the alignment pins increases, and therefore, a large load acts upon the support structure supporting the alignment pins, the loading motor which drives the alignment pins in the vertical direction, and the loading gear system.
(4) When there is a large misregistration of the cartridge, the forward/backward direction urging force exerted by the cartridge pre-loading member and the function force upon the tray exerted by the cartridge pressing springs may make it difficult to insert the alignment pins and may prohibit accurate positioning of the cartridge.
With reference to a CD=ROM drive structure of the conventional optical disk record/reproduce drive, a structure that the tray blocks an opening for loading and ejection and operations of the drive will now be described.
In FIG. 68, denoted at 201 is the main unit of the optical disk record/reproduce drive, denoted at 202 is an opening of the main unit for loading and ejection of the tray, denoted at 203 is an operation button of the load eject switch, and denote at 204 is the tray on which the optical disk is placed.
There are two concave portions 231 and 232, one large and the other small, formed in a concentric arrangement at the center of the cartridge seating surface 233 of the tray 204. The concave portion 231 having a large diameter is a large diameter disk seater while the concave portion 232 having a small diameter is a small diameter disk seater, and either one is used in accordance with the outer diameter of a disk which is to be mounted to the main unit 201 of the optical disk record/reproduce drive.
In addition, a tray decoration 205 is formed in the front surface of the tray 204. The structure is that upon completed loading of the tray 204, the tray decoration 205 blocks the opening 202 of the main unit 201 of the optical disk record/reproduce drive.
The back surface of the tray 204 seats a rack gear (not shown) engaged with the last-stage drive gear of the loading gear system which is linked to the loading motor (not shown) which is disposed to the front side of the mechanical chassis of the main unit 201. This realizes a structure that as the rotating direction of the loading motor is switched, the tray 204 is loaded and ejected.
As described above, the CD-ROM drive has a structure that the CD-ROM drive comprises the tray 204 which accepts only a naked disk and the tray decoration (lid) 205 which is integrated with the tray 204 blocks the opening 202. The tray 204 is mechanically locked after inserted and the tray decoration 205 blocks the opening 202 at about the same time, and hence, it is impossible to pull out the tray 204 by hand or insert a finger, a foreign matter or the like from outside.
The conventional optical disk record/reproduce drive described above has the following mechanical problems.
Because of the structure described above with the conventional tray 204, it is not possible to place both a naked disk and a disk stored in the cartridge on the tray 204. Even if the structure of the disk seating surface of the tray 204 is modified so as to make it possible to place the cartridge, with the tray decoration 205 still remaining in the front of the tray 204, placing of the cartridge onto the tray 204 or ejection of the cartridge from the tray is inconvenient since only the side surfaces of the cartridge are where the cartridge is held. There is a problem that a child with small hands or an aged person whose force for grasping at the cartridge with fingertips, in particular, can not easily place the cartridge or take out the cartridge.
If the tray decoration 205 is removed or the tray decoration 205 is locally notched to thereby hold the cartridge at the front and eventually accept the cartridge, an opening to outside the drive will be created in the front of the optical disk record/reproduce drive, which may invite dirt, a foreign matter or the like into the drive during operations of the drive or may encourage a child to touch a rotating disk and hurt the child. There is also a possibility that diffracted light of the strong laser light reflected by the recording surface of the disk will leak out at the front opening, and depending on installation of the drive, will impinge upon an eye and damage a retina.
As for an optical disk record/reproduce drive of the so-called slot-in type which does not use a tray but requires a roller in the front of the optical disk record/reproduce drive for loading of a disk into inside the drive by means of rotations of the roller, when the drive is compatible only with a naked disk, a lid for blocking the opening is not necessary as long as there is a path for a thin disk to pass. However, use of the slot-in type compatible with a cartridge does require a path for a thick disk to pass, and hence, a lid structure for blocking the opening.
The conventional optical disk record/reproduce drive shown in FIGS. 62, 69 and 70 will now be described. In these drawings, denoted at 201 is the main unit of the optical disk record/reproduce drive, denoted at 204 is the tray for seating the cartridge 1 storing the optical disk (not shown) and a naked optical disk (not shown), denoted at 205 is the state detecting switch which is disposed to the tray 204 and detects completed placing of the cartridge 1, denoted at 206 is a flexible lead which connects the state detecting switch 205 with a control circuit.
There are two concave portions, one large and the other small, formed in a concentric arrangement at the center of a cartridge seating surface 233 of the tray 204. The concave portion having a large diameter is a large diameter disk seater 231 while the concave portion having a small diameter is a small diameter disk seater 232, and either one is used in accordance with the outer diameter of a disk which is to be mounted to the main unit 201 of the optical disk record/reproduce drive.
The tray 204 comprises the front wall surface 234, the left wall surface 235 and the right wall surface 236 which are slightly larger than the outer size of the cartridge 1 and disposed vertically to the cartridge seating surface 233. The cartridge pre-loading member 237 is disposed via a compression coil spring 237a to the innermost side of the tray 204 so as to be freely movable in the forward/backward direction, creating a structure that the cartridge pre-loading member 237 is held by the holding part 250 as it is pre-loaded toward the front of the tray 204 by the spring 237a. 
The rack gear (not shown), which engages with the last-stage drive gear of the loading gear system which is driven by the loading motor disposed to the front of the mechanical chassis, is disposed to the back surface of the tray 204, and as the rotating direction of the loading motor is switched, the tray 204 is loaded and ejected.
Operations of the optical disk record/reproduce drive having such a structure described above will now be described in relation to an example of reproducing from the disk stored in the cartridge 1. For placing of the cartridge 1 on the tray 204 which is surrounded by the front wall surface 234, the left wall surface 235 and the right wall surface 236, the cartridge 1 is slid obliquely toward below from the forward upper side to the tray 204 while pushing the cartridge pre-loading member 237 toward the innermost side to the tray 204 at the rear edge of the cartridge 1, and the cartridge 1 is placed on the cartridge seating surface 233 in such a manner that the front edge of the cartridge 1 contacts the inner wall of the front wall surface 234, whereby placing of the cartridge 1 on the tray 204 is completed.
At this stage, the cartridge pre-loading member 237 presses the front edge of the cartridge 1 against the inside of the front wall surface 234, and the cartridge 1 is roughly positioned with respect to the tray 204 without any rattling in the forward/backward direction or the right/left direction.
Further, the state detecting switch 205 is pressed on the insertion-end side surface of the cartridge. This starts the loading motor 212 and the tray 204 now seating the cartridge 1 is automatically loaded into inside the main unit 201 of the optical disk record/reproduce drive because of the drive force of the loading motor 212, after which the cartridge is finally positioned relative to the tray 204 and the spindle motor by means of insertion of the alignment pins not shown, which are integrated as one with the traverse base to which the spindle motor not shown, the optical pickup and the like are fixed, into the cartridge.
The conventional example above has the following problems.
(1) As for insertion over the cartridge into the optical disk record/reproduce drive, it is necessary to insert the cartridge into the optical disk record/reproduce drive obliquely from above while avoiding the front wall surface at the front end of the tray.
In the event that the position in the height direction at which the optical disk record/reproduce drive is installed is about the same as or higher than the height of eyes of an operator who performs the insertion, the insertion over the cartridge becomes unnatural and the drive is therefore inconvenient to use.
(2) For insertion over the cartridge into the optical disk record/reproduce drive, it is necessary to execute a plurality of operations, i.e., to push in the cartridge against the forward pre-loading force of the cartridge pre-loading member, to thereafter confirm complete placing of the cartridge on the cartridge seating surface which is surrounded by the front wall surface, the left wall surface and the right wall surface of the tray and the cartridge pre-loading member, to thereafter push in the tray into inside the drive or actuate the loading switch which is disposed to a different portion for complete insertion over the cartridge into the optical disk record/reproduce drive.
(3) Therefore, when the cartridge is placed on the tray in a wrong state and the tray is loaded with the cartridge struck against the front wall surface, the left wall surface or the right wall surface because of a misoperation made by an operator, the tray opening in the optical disk record/reproduce drive and the cartridge interfere with each other in the middle of the loading of the tray and the loading is consequently interrupted.
Meanwhile, the structure in which the cartridge itself avoids a misoperation during loading may lead to a scratch on the surface of the cartridge, or in the worse case, destruction of the cartridge.
(4) In the event that the detecting switch is disposed on the tray which moves during loading or ejection, cartridge insertion into the optical disk record/reproduce drive for instance can automatically finish without pushing in the tray or actuating an operation switch which is disposed to a different portion.
However, since the detecting switch as well moves together with the tray, a complex arrangement of wiring members for signal transmission is needed, which in turn results in lack of reliability.
Nowadays, as a recording medium for information equipment such as a computer, a reproduction-only disk such as a CD-ROM, a rewritable disk of the magneto-optic system or the phase change system, and the like are used.
In the conventional optical disk record/reproduce drive shown in FIGS. 62 through 64, a drive system design, such as a gear ratio, for a loading drive which accepts both a cartridge and a naked disk is centered on a cartridge in general because of a large load at the time of opening or closing of the shutter of the cartridge or a large load at the time of loading of the cartridge into the drive against the load of the cartridge.
Therefore, a large drive torque is necessary, which creates a loading noise when the gear ratio is selected right at an appropriate speed for cartridge loading since the speed of loading means which loads in a tray or the like becomes too fast in the absence of a media or against use of a naked disk.
Further, because of an individual difference which the disk loading drive has, a change with time, etc., it is necessary to change the profile of the drive system while judging the state of the loading drive and accordingly reduces a noise.
The conventional optical disk record/reproduce drive shown in FIGS. 62 through 67 has the following problems.
(1) The external shape of the traverse base is large since the alignment pins and the state detecting switches are integrated with the traverse base which holds the spindle motor and the like, and as it is necessary to vertically drive the heavy traverse base for loading or ejection, the vertical drive force for the traverse base increases, and a noise due to collision of the traverse base and the chassis particularly during ejection becomes noisier.
(2) Because of the large external shape of the traverse base, there is a restriction upon the arrangement of the loading motor for loading drive and ejection drive and the gear system relative to each other, which prevents to ensure a sufficient reduction ratio and increases a noise which is created during loading and ejection.
(3) Since the cartridge after the completion of the loading is held as one integrated unit together with the traverse base, the upper base, the tray and the mechanical chassis, the damper members which absorb disturbing vibrations support the heavy mechanical chassis, and therefore, rubber whose hardness is high needs be used considering deformation due to a change with time in the damper members, which however makes it impossible to sufficiently absorb large disturbing vibrations.
(4) During placing of the cartridge on the tray, the cartridge is urged by the cartridge pre-loading member against the inside the front wall surface of the tray and accordingly positioned.
Hence, when the position of the cartridge is to be adjusted during loading of the cartridge, the drive force which inserts the alignment pins into the positioning holes of the cartridge must move the cartridge in the forward/backward direction or the right/left direction against the urging force exerted by the cartridge pre-loading member, which in turn leads to a problem that the load upon the loading motor and the loading gear system, electric power consumption and a noise increase.
(5) During loading of the cartridge, the cartridge pressing springs and the cartridge pressing rollers urge the cartridge against the cartridge seating surface of the tray.
Hence, when the position of the cartridge is to be adjusted during loading of the cartridge, the drive force which inserts the alignment pins into the positioning holes of the cartridge must move the cartridge in the forward/backward direction or the right/left direction against the urging force exerted by the cartridge pressing springs and the cartridge pressing rollers, which in turn leads to a problem that the load upon the loading motor and the loading gear system, electric power consumption and a noise increase.
The conventional optical disk record/reproduce drive shown in FIGS. 62 and 63 has the following problems.
(1) As described earlier, the tray 204 and the mechanical chassis (201) are molded resin elements, and the slide surface for loading of the mechanical chassis 201a is formed even and smooth. The bottom slide surface of the tray which slides against this slide surface has a convex cross section shaped in the form of a rail. Further, a few guide members are disposed in the vicinity of the slide surface of the mechanical chassis, which structure preventing winding of the tray 204 during loading.
However, considering dimensional shrinkage attributed to a temperature change, the structure permits a gap in the width direction, thereby allowing the tray 204 to rattle in the right/left direction.
(2) For placing of the cartridge 1 on the tray 204, a torque acts upon the tray 204 due to load created at the time of opening or closing of the shutter of the cartridge 1, and therefore, the tray 204 is transported as it is slanted to one side in a slanted direction which turns around between loading and ejection.
(3) As the cartridge placed on the tray 204 is loaded and the alignment pins of the traverse base accordingly engage with the alignment pin engagement holes of the cartridge, rattling in the right/left direction, if large, between the mechanical chassis (201) and the tray 204 leads to a positioning error of the cartridge 1 and makes it difficult to accurately position the traverse base.
(4) While restriction upon the tray 204 in the vertical direction is realized by the mechanical chassis (201) and the upper base 228, it is not possible to reduce the vertical rattling to zero, which serves as a factor which makes the tray instable while the cartridge is being manipulated.
The conventional optical disk record/reproduce drive shown in FIGS. 62 and 63 further has the following problems.
(1) For placing of the cartridge on the tray of the optical disk record/reproduce drive, it is necessary to insert the cartridge into inside the tray obliquely from above while avoiding the front wall surface at the front end of the tray.
In the event that the position in the height direction at which the disk record/reproduce drive is installed is about the same or higher than the height of eyes of an operator who performs the insertion, the insertion over the cartridge becomes unnatural and the drive is therefore inconvenient to use.
This problem similarly occurs during placing of the disk which is not housed in the cartridge.
(2) For placing of the cartridge on the tray, it is necessary to execute a plurality of operations, i.e., to push in the cartridge against the forward pre-loading force of the cartridge pre-loading member, to thereafter confirm complete placing of the cartridge on the cartridge seating surface which is surrounded by the front wall surface, the left wall surface and the right wall surface of the tray and the cartridge pre-loading member, to thereafter push in the tray into inside the drive or actuate the loading switch for complete insertion over the cartridge into the disk record/reproduce drive.
(3) When the cartridge is placed on the tray in a wrong state and the tray is loaded with the cartridge struck against the front wall surface, the left wall surface or the right wall surface because of a misoperation committed by an operator, the tray opening in the disk record/reproduce drive and the cartridge interfere with each other in the middle of the loading of the tray and the loading is consequently interrupted.
Meanwhile, the structure in which the cartridge itself avoids a misoperation during loading may lead to a scratch on the surface of the cartridge, or in the worse case, destruction of the cartridge.
(4) A structure generally in a major use is that there is a notch in the vicinity of the center of the front wall surface, since it is necessary to locally notch the front wall surface, the left wall surface and the right wall surface which surround the cartridge seating surface for the purpose of placing of the cartridge on the tray and ejection of the cartridge from the tray.
However, since an operator can not recognize the cartridge only at the position where there is the notch in the wall surface, the operator is forced into unnatural posture that the operator holds the cartridge with his or her fingers at the top and the bottom surfaces of the cartridge, while such is greatly burdensome to an aged person or a child who can not hold strong at fingertips.
(5) Further, there are a number of restrictions upon the structure of the tray which comprises the front wall surface, the left wall surface, the right wall surface and the notch in wall surface, and the freedom of design is accordingly low.